East of the River: Home of the Sun Clan sample -- TPMThorne.com

“I hope it rains less up north,” Zu Mao grumbled. “Or can that horse swim, Mister Sun?”
Sun Jian looked down at his horse’s legs and said, “Am I sinking?”
“Not yet,” Zu Mao replied as he shook his right leg. “I’d rather be on a horse, in a ways, but then again, maybe not.”
“…We should’ve gone to Wuhu and crossed,” Huang Gai said. “Crossing here is-”
“We should go east to Wuhu,” Cheng Pu announced as he returned to the gathering. “There’s no danger of the Yellow Turbans being anywhere near here, and we need to make an organised crossing.”
“Great minds think alike, it seems,” Sun Jian chuckled. “Alright then, we’ll go to Wuhu as soon as we’ve rested… it isn’t far. Do we need to leave men here in signal towers to watch for incursions, do you think…?”
Cheng Pu and Huang Gai voiced simultaneous agreement that scouts and guard towers would not be necessary.
“…I’d like t’see someone light a warning fire in this rain, anyhow,” Zu Mao said.

Within two days, Sun Jian’s army crossed the Yangtze River and began their journey west through Lujiang Prefecture in northern Yang Province. Han Dang and Zu Mao were now on horses as well, and the men had taken the opportunity to replenish their supplies in the port towns.
“Isn’t this area riddled with bandits, Demou?” Huang Gai asked.
“They’ll have called a truce with Administrator Lu Kang,” Cheng Pu replied.
“The Yellow Turbans’ leaders aren’t professional crims, they’re preachy loons,” Zu Mao suggested. “They’ll want all the bandits to stop fighting and pray and ‘reflect on their souls’ and all that, which don’t sit right, I’d have thought.”
“Quite true,” Cheng Pu said with a smile.
“So we’re safe,” Sun Jian supposed.

“I’d say so,” Cheng Pu replied. “As Zu Mao has already said in a sense, no proper bandit wants religious fanatics to win a war between people and state; the laws that would follow would be harsh and unforgiving. If anything, we’ll probably get some volunteers if we’re spotted.”
“They’d be appreciated,” Sun Jian said.
“…So long as they don’t ‘revert to type’ on the way back,” Wu Jing suggested.

Sun Jian would receive a few volunteers, but as the border with Yu Province loomed, every man started to wonder if they were right to be voluntarily adding their presence to the growing chaos. Most stayed on the march, however, and Sun Jian crossed into Yu Province with a force that was still in excess of 1,000 men. He would need every man, because the Yellow Turbans in Runan Prefecture alone reportedly numbered in the tens of thousands, and their local leader, Bo Cai, was almost as charismatic and inspiring as Sun Jian. In fact, two of his lieutenants, Liu Pi and Huang Shao, were quickly becoming as well-known for their skill as leaders, warriors and recruiters, and that made the battle for hearts all the more difficult.

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